8 Brilliant Uses Of The Long Take In Movies & TV Shows

This cinematographic masterclass from Cary Fukunaga pulls out all the stops in executing one of the most technically impressive long takes that television has ever seen. In a series loaded with Oscar-worthy performances from Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, and a script so tight it puts the latter’s Magic Mike leather chaps to shame, True Detective’s camerawork is the cherry on top of a many-layered filmic feast.

In Who Goes There – the fourth episode of the first season – McConaughey’s deep-cover detective Rust Cohle is caught in the middle of a gangland drug deal gone wrong, resorting to the kidnapping of Neo-Nazi biker gang leader Ginger. Tracking the action through several apartments, streets and gardens, the revolving camera keeps the viewer in a state of constant visual turmoil – in combination with a series of hair-raising threats and close calls – and makes the logistical precision all that more impressive.

To not have a single boom mic, special effects misfire or member of the production staff appear on camera amidst the chaos is remarkable enough; but for Harrelson’s Martin Hart to pull up in his car just in time for Cohle and his hostage to be bundled in the back and whisked away to safety is a feat of choreography that cements the sequence as one of the best ever seen in either television or film.